Macbook Air M2 2022 - Black Screen but you see it light up. Gives it a dark grayish tone.

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Macbook Air M2 2022 - Black Screen but you see it light up. Gives it a dark grayish tone.

Hi, I have a Macbook Air M2 2022 that is updated to Sequoia 15.5. I cannot get the screen to actually display anything but yet it lights up - if that makes sense.

I connected it to an external monitor and did the Command F1 combo to mirror to it, and it works just fine. I did updates via external monitor and that didnt solve anything. Given my laptop is an M2, I believe I cannot reset my PRAM/NVRAM and or do the SMC reset either.

I want to run my laptop in diagnostic's mode, which I have it set up to display onto my external monitor with the laptop closed, its just im using an external Windows keyboard and I cant seem to get it to boot into diagnostics mode. It just goes to the login page. I looked online and it says to do Windows D after restarting to hold and wait for it to boot into diagnostics. Though when I do that, it seems as if my keyboard is not recognized or isnt on while the laptop boots up. Everything is currently connected to a Dell Docking station and not directly to the laptop. I do not have a USBC laptop connector for the keyboard.

What can I do to solve this black screen and what can I do to boot my laptop into Diagnostics Mode if I cannot see the laptop screen itself - given because its "blacked" out.

Posted on Jun 9, 2025 10:11 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

156,594 points

Jun 9, 2025 12:38 PM in response to Cisija

Based on what you posted, I would venture to guess that the issue is with your laptop's display panel or ribbon cable that connects its logic board to the panel. The fact that you were successful getting a display to appear on an external monitor was the clue.

You may find the following user tip article helpful: Mac Basic Startup Troubleshooting Steps

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Answer 2

Cisija Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 9, 2025 1:18 PM in response to mrokirtron236

@magnusTheAppleGuy, I am unsure if my laptop is an OLED however the system settings says "Built-in Liquid Retina Display"

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Answer 3

Cisija Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 9, 2025 1:23 PM in response to Tesserax

@Tesserax

Thank you for the response, I had a hunch it was the screen or ribbon. I've taken it apart last night to see if anything was lose and its all connected, however I did not do a thorough inspection of the ribbon cable or any of the other cables. Only opened to verify everything is plugged in.

I do want to mention I was able to access self diagnostic mode and run it via closing the Macbook and forcing it to display onto the screen which allowed me to see the Options page and begin from there. I was only able to do offline diagnostic and it gave me an error stating camera not working. Which I figured it wouldnt if the screen isnt working.

I'll check out that link and see if anything there works! Thank you.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I also tried First Aid - it did not work. I then tried Recovery Mode and reinstalled the OS, no luck. to me it has to be physical hardware, I set an appointment and hope to find out more at the end of this week.

Thank you again

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Answer 4

Jun 9, 2025 11:34 PM in response to Cisija

Okay that’s completely normal, many LCD screens show off a dark grey colour when they are showing a black screen and it is more obvious in dark enviroments

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Answer 5

Jun 9, 2025 12:46 PM in response to Cisija

@Tesserax I assume the M2 air is an OLED, so that cancels that problem out.

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